[a] counterbalance to the film industry

Menu

Deadpool 2

The “Merc with a Mouth” is back! …And that about sums everything up. Just like the last Deadpool, it’s another “self-aware”, self-referential, sophomoric romp through the Marvel Cinematic Universe. If you enjoyed the wit and oft foul-mouthed banter of the first film, you’ll likely enjoy the sequel about as much.

While much of the script is fairly blatantly lifted from the first film, credit must be given to the fact that quite a lot of the dialog practically writes an artistic critique for itself, but…

That’s just lazy writing.

— Wade Wilson (Deadpool)

As any other film in the MCU, there is plenty of slow motion filming that comes just shy of being able to be considered artful. How many more films can an audience sit through with the same stylistic set pieces and over-the-top antics of enhanced vigilantes? Ryan Reynolds, Paul Wernick, and Rhett Reese seem to be asking the same question if the screenplay is to be believed. Many scenes are packed with cynical witticisms that poke fun at the rote nature of the MCU and other “Cinematic Universes”.

Much of the writing for this outing seems to be more comfortable than that of the first film as well. While the first film came across as being just as one-dimensional as the comics that birthed the character, this one adds enough trope-based depth to simultaneously make characters vaguely relatable while showcasing the poster-board cut-out depth that these sorts of films sell. Much of the acting from the rest of the cast more effectively shows Wade’s eccentric fourth-wall breaking than the confused and pandering interactions of the first film as well. Again, that has to be given as a credit to the cast and crew.

Deadpool 2 shows that a film can be playfully enjoyable without really being artful. Considering that the main plot doesn’t fully bother with the intricacies of time-traveling paradoxes, it makes sense that it would also take the time and effort to appease fans by correcting the canonical missteps of other films based on beloved characters. Besides, if you realized that you could dramatically alter past events without any of the negative consequences, why wouldn’t you travel back and chastise yourself for thinking you finally put your foot in the door to “the big leagues”?